The Red Wind
by Ink Parallax
Summary: "Haruka. I'm sorry for graduating the academy before you did." "Yeah, well. Just don't do it again." Itachi opened his mouth, then thought better of it as Haruka meandered across his room, throwing herself down on his neatly made bed. "So, whatcha' up to, 'Tachi?" ItachixOC
1. 00-Prologue

PROLOGUE

"I don't really know that much about you."

The fire crackled, sparks fluttering through the cool night air, spiraling upwards with the long, grey wisps of smoke before being pulled away by the light breeze. Crickets chirped in the grass, and somewhere off to the right a bush rustled before a bird took off into the night. A young blond haired boy stared intently across the fire at his partner, a curious look in his eyes. He wondered if she had heard him. She didn't show any sign's, continuing to stare into the flames.

"We've been teammates for almost three months now, yet you haven't told me anything about yourself." He shrugged his shoulders in his jacket, feeling the cold a little more now as he looked up at the sky. He breathed in the sweet scent of burning wood, enjoying the permeating silence. It felt as though they were the only two people in the world. He wished that just for a moment he could pretend that was true, that he didn't have to worry about whether or not they were going to be attacked by a rogue ninja or ambushed or fail to complete their mission.

He still wasn't sure if he should be calling it that.

"Hiroshi." He tensed at the sound of his name. Surely, she was going to tell him it was an inappropriate thing to say, that there wasn't any use in getting to know anyone when one was a Shinobi. He knew all that. He also knew that life was short, and he didn't intend to waste it on being lonely. "What do you want to know?"

The blond paused, before glancing out of the corner of his eye to look at the young woman beside him. No, not woman. He reminded himself that she was still just a girl, despite the old look in her eyes. He wondered if he had heard her correctly; he hadn't expected her to give in so easily.

"It's not like I'm asking for your whole life story or anything," he sighed, leaning back on his palms, his shoulders digging into his neck as he reclined, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankles. "Maybe an interesting fact or something, I don't know," he half joked, shooting her a sideways smile. She blinked at him, before turning back to the fire, reaching behind her to grab a hold of her blade. It was an elegant tool, and one he had come to know she never traveled anywhere without. Still, he had yet to see her use it.

She went silent, and then Hiroshi wondered if she was going to respond at all. Several long moments passed, and he had just given up on trying to get any information out of the strong, silent girl when finally she spoke. It would have startled him, were he not a ninja.

"My real name isn't Akane." Hiroshi's eyes widened. "It's Haruka."

* * *

><p><em><strong>What an interesting start, ye? Realistically this chapter is just supposed to introduce my writing style to you, the reader, and set a time frame (its going to much of a start-in-the-middle sort of story, so the important bits of AkaneHaruka's are clearly memories.) It's also going to be clear that when the 'narrator' (technically me) refers to her as Haruka it's in the past, and when the narrator refers to her as Akane it's present. That should make it easy.**_

_**Anyhow, what do you think? Thoughts? Idea's? OTP's? This is mainly an ItachixOC fic, but there may be a little OCxOC rivalry in there. XD Ahaha, see you next time.**_

_All rights reserved for the authors and artists involved in the Naruto series._


	2. 01-What A Name Is Worth

**The Red Wind**|CHAPTER ONE|_What A Name Is Worth_

"Kimiko! Get back to work!"

The woman looked behind her, a frantic look in her eye as her boss scolded before rushing off to make sure another one of the waitresses didn't drop the tray she was carrying, scolding her for trying to lift so much. Kimiko was a pretty thing, with a small waist and long, black hair tied back in a pony tail. Even her waitress' uniform looked good on her, and she gripped a tray in her strong, weathered fingers. She was still young, but she had an old look about her, as though she had worked hard in her life and knew what sacrifice meant. Anyone who looked at her might guess that she was twenty-six at the oldest.

She turned back to the little girl sitting in the booth, looking up at her with wide, innocent eyes, holding a red crayon in her hand.

"I'm sorry, baby, I have to go. If you need anything just ask, ok?" Kimiko said quickly, planting a kiss on top of the girls head. She had the same black hair and pale, icy eyes like her mother, and one day perhaps the same beauty that she had. Now she would be best described as a cherub, with pudgy cheeks and a round chin, and her hair cut short and a mess on top of her head from playing outside.

"Mom!" She complained as Kimiko tried to flatten the mess, swatting at her arms.

"Kimiko!" Her boss shouted again, before letting out a yelp as the other waitress dropped a pot of hot water, struggling to catch it in his already too-full hands.

"Coming!" Kimiko called, licking her fingers and flattening down a piece of hair that stuck up at an odd angle. It only popped back up again, but Kimiko seemed satisfied. "Behave Haruka, ok? I'll be done as soon as possible," she said cheerfully, before turning and quickly making her way over to her boss, taking the pot of hot water and several plated from him to lighten the load. He said something to her, and she simply laughed, leading the somewhat awkward man into the kitchen.

Haruka looked around at the hectic atmosphere of the restaurant, labeled Izanagi's. That was the name of her mother's boss. It was a family name, passed down through several generations, along with the restaurant, which was currently the most popular place to stop in and have a meal at in all of Konohagakure. Kimiko worked at Izanagi's for as long as Haruka could remember, though, to be fair, Haruka was still too young to remember much.

She was small for her age. Whenever anyone asked how old she was, bending down and smiling sweetly, talking in a weird affected voice, they would usually suggest three or four. Haruka would be lying to say that she was somewhat delighted when she could surprise them by holding up five fingers, though the condescending way they gasped in amazement—as though they would have never guessed _five _in all of their years—was a little insulting to say the least.

The steady sound of conversation permeated the air, filled with the sound of clinking cups and chopsticks on fine china. Someone laughed in one of the booths over, and two young civilians stood and pulled on their coats, smiling shyly at one another before reaching out and grasping hands, talking conspiratorially as they moved towards the exit. A busser stopped by and quickly began clearing the table before wiping it down with a rag, preparing it for the next set of guests.

"Come on, Itachi."

Haruka watched as a young black haired woman in a pink dress pulled along a little boy with hair just as similar to hers towards the table. Behind them a woman with long red-hair hobbled along, holding her bulging stomach. Haruka stared curiously, her eyes wide, taking everything in. She had never seen someone so fat before.

They took a seat, the red-haired fat woman having an awkward time fitting into the booth. The black haired woman tried to help her, but the red-headed woman batted her away, clearly annoyed.

"I can do it, Mikoto. I'm not completely helpless, you know," she rolled her eyes, plopping heavily into her seat, grunting as she did so.

"I know, I know, I was just trying to help," the black haired woman, Mikoto said, and though she sounded annoyed she smiled kindly at her friend. She took the seat across from her, and the small black haired boy slid into the seat beside her.

"How's Sasuke doing?" The red head asked, rubbing her stomach thoughtfully.

"Wonderfully," Mikoto sighed, smiling. "Lady Tsunade offered to watch him for a little bit today. He was starting to run me ragged, I'll be honest. Taking care of a baby is hard work, Kushina."

"Being pregnant is hard work," the red-head, Kushina, grunted. Haruka tilted her head curiously. Pregnant?

"Though it does seem a little out of Tsunade's character..." Mikoto murmured, frowning.

"She probably thinks he's a good-luck charm or something," Kushina said casually, waving her wrist. "She did win all that money the day after he was born, remember?"

"Hello, welcome to Izanagi's." Haruka watched as her mother came over, holding a tray in her hand a small notebook and pencil, greeting her new customers with a nice smile. "I'm Kimiko. Is there anything I can get for you?" Mikoto looked to Kushina expectantly.

"Tea would be nice," Kushina sighed. "And do you have any pickles? Ooh, and kamaboko?"

"Yes, we have all of that," Kimiko laughed, quickly writing it down. "I don't mean to be rude, of course, but are you expecting?" She asked, looking curiously to Kushina, who smiled.

"Yes. His name will be Naruto."

"Ah, a little boy," Kimiko cooed. "I have a girl, myself. She's about your age, too," she said, turning to Itachi, the little boy sitting quietly beside Mikoto. "Her name is Haruka—she's right over there, actually." She gestured to where Haruka sat quietly, a bowl of udon noodles sitting in front of her practically untouched. She still gripped her red crayon, though it was all but forgotten. She realized she had been caught staring as the two women and Itachi looked over and blushed hard, looking down at her paper napkin drawings and making random squiggles as though to appear busy, hoping they hadn't noticed.

"How cute," Mikoto giggled girlishly. "This is Itachi. Maybe you should go say hello." Mikoto hinted, nudging her boy teasingly. He gazed at the girl across the way, dark eyes questioning. "I have a new born, too. His name is Sasuke."

"I just have one," Kimiko smiled.

"I'm sure one is enough as it is," Kushina inserted, shooting Mikoto an accusing look. "You're only able to manage two kids because Itachi is so soft tempered." Kimiko laughed.

"She doesn't look it, but Haruka is quite the troublemaker. I understand what you mean," Kimiko laughed. The three women barely noticed as Itachi slid out of his seat and stood up, making his way over to the small girl.

"Really, Mikoto hear is quite lucky. Itachi behaves better than any child I've ever met in my life," Kushina sighed, rubbing her swollen belly.

"Oh quiet, you. With your temper Naruto is certain to be perfectly behaved. He'll be too scared to step out of line, that's for certain," Mikoto joked. Kushina shot her a look.

"He'd better be."

"Hello."

Haruka pretended that she didn't notice the black haired boy standing beside her table, looking at her expectantly. She hastily drew on her napkin, humming a little, as if that would make her appear a little busier. Itachi frowned awkwardly, watching her as she doodled.

"Uhm, hello?"

Haruka looked up, feigning a look of surprise.

"Oh. I didn't see you there," she said briskly, trying her best to look like she was older, thrusting out her chin and pushing her shoulders back. Itachi watched her curiously, clearly not believing her. "What do you want?" She asked rather rudely. Itachi blinked. Her eyes were a curious shade of icy blue, much clearer than any eyes he had ever seen before.

"What's your name?" He asked, his eyes wide and childish. Hisoka squared her shoulders, straightening up.

"Haruka. Haruka Takenaka, but you can just call me Haruka," she said steadily, looking down her small, button nose at him. "You don't need to tell me your name. I already know it."

"You do?" Itachi didn't bother to tell her that he already knew her name, mostly because her mother had just said it only a moment ago, and that he had just asked her to be polite.

"Yes, of course I do. I'm going to be a ninja one day, so I need to be observant. Clearly." She sniffed haughtily. Itachi watched her for a moment, and he couldn't help but smile, just a little bit.

"Clearly," he repeated. Haruka was too young to understand that he was mocking her.

"Your name is Itachi." She stated this proudly, like a concrete fact, as though she had just finished working out a complicated trajectory problem in a math lesson.

"But what's my last name?" He asked innocently. Haruka paused, looking lost, before shooting him an irritated look.

"Last names don't matter," she said snootily, brushing off the question casually. Itachi didn't tell her that they did, particularly because a last name could tell you a lot about a ninja and what kind of jutsu they were most likely adept in. Instead, he said;

"Then why did you tell me yours?" She glared at him again.

"Because you'll need to know it one day when you're calling me Takenaka-sama."

Itachi couldn't help but giggle a little, a childish little laugh escaping his lips.

"Why would I do that?" He asked, scooting into the booth across from her.

"Because I'm going to be the greatest ninja you've ever known, of course!"

"Of course," Itachi nodded sagely.

"You might as well ask for my autograph now," Haruka advised, shooting him an overdramatically sharp look, narrowing her eyes in a way that looked somewhat odd on her small, pudgy face. "It wont be so easy to get when I'm off fighting bad guys," she huffed, punching the air for effect. Itachi's smile spread into a childish grin. "The world will know my name. Everyone will hear of Haruka Takenaka, they'll know my name in every country, from Hogakure to Yukigakure, from the Land of Wood to the Land of the Moon. You wont be able to go anywhere without hearing someone talking about me." Haruka declared this with conviction, nodding her head and crossing her arms resolutely.

"Are you in the academy, Haruka-san?" Itachi asked. Haruka shot him a pointed look.

"Just Haruka. If we're going to be friends we might as well just get it over with instead of wasting our time with honor- uh, honorif-" Haruka screwed her face up awkwardly. "Honorifs. Honorifcs."

"Honorifics," Itachi supplied.

"Yeah, those things. I'll just call you Itachi and you'll just call me Haruka."

"Ok. Haruka, are you in the academy?" Itachi asked again. He may be a smart young boy, but that didn't mean he wasn't a young boy. Neither noticed as the three young women giggled, watching the exchange between the two.

"Not yet. I'm too young. But I've been studying ahead of time. I already know all of the countries," Haruka beamed, and then she began to list them all.

Mikoto watched fondly as her eldest listened intently, as though he were determined to memorize each and every word he said. Kushina smiled curiously, and Kimiko couldn't help but roll her eyes rather girlishly at her own daughter's brazen attitude.

"It's nice to see him getting along with someone. He doesn't have very many friends," Mikoto said somewhat sadly. Kimiko shot the black haired woman a worried look.

"He's still very young, I suppose," she said, as though to make an excuse. Mikoto only seemed to grow heavy with the sort of burden only a mother could carry for her child.

"He's very smart. My husband has him studying constantly. He's got a lot of potential, I see that in him, and I know that with the war..." Mikoto paused. "He's still just a little boy. He needs time to play. And make friends," she said pointedly. Kimiko nodded, not fully understanding. They said a few final words and Kimiko disappeared into the kitchen to have their food made.

"Then there's the Land of Crocodiles, and the Land of Dust, ooh, and Flowers. I bet that's a really pretty place. And there's the Land of Valleys, and... I think I missed... oh, the Land of Swamps! And..." Haruka listed from the other table. Mikoto watched her son, pleased, though it seemed bittersweet. Certainly this couldn't last forever. But she would enjoy it while it did, as Itachi seemed to be.

They sat like that for a long time, Kushina and Mikoto conversing while Haruka and Itachi played games that Haruka showed him with the napkin and the crayon, teaching him how to play tic-tac-toe. She only became frustrated when he learned quickly and figured out how to beat her, and then she would teach him another game, but he quickly became adept at that, too. It didn't help that she nonly had two games in her arsenal, and being such a sore loser she didn't want to play a game she couldn't win.

"You're too good at this. Are you sure you haven't ever played these games before?" Haruka huffed, leaning heavily on her hand. Itachi shrugged and she sighed dramatically. "Maybe we should play something else."

Just then, Kimiko came up beside them.

"Here you go, Itachi," she said soothingly, setting down a plate of dango in front of him. His eyes widened and he smiled a small, excited smile.

"Thank you, Takenaka-san, it looks very good," he said quietly, keeping his hands in his lap, subdued, though he clearly wished to dig in.

"It's no problem, hun. Haruka, did you finish your noodles?" Kimiko asked accusingly, clearly seeing that she did not. Haruka stuck out her tongue, glaring at the dango as though it offended her.

"Ugh, dango is gross."

"Eat your udon, Haruka," Kimiko commanded, flattening the hair that was sticking up on her head affectionately. "And don't be so rude."

"Ok, mom," she mumbled, pulling her bowl close to her face and slurping the noodles noisily. Kimiko shook her head, chuckling at her daughters strange antics. She had never been one for sweet things.

"Hurry and eat your dango, Itachi," Mikoto called. "We have to go." Itachi looked up at the sound of his mothers voice and nodded, quickly digging into the sweet confection. Haruka practically dropped her bowl on the table, noodles hanging from her mouth.

"Awwuh," she groaned. Kimiko shot her a look, and she quickly swallowed her mouthful. "I don't want you to go."

"You can play later, Haruka. It's time for Itachi to go home, now," Kimiko said soothingly. Mikoto and Kushina glanced at one another, smiles on their faces.

"But it's so _boring_," Haruka gasped, flopping over in the booth and hanging off the side. Kimiko gave a distressed huff.

"Quit being so dramatic, and _sit up_," she said patiently. Haruka continued to lay there, throwing an arm over her head.

"I'm going to waste away, momma, and then I'll never_, ever _see Itachi again!" Said boy took another big bite of his dango, watching the exchange with wide eyes, his cheeks puffed from being so full.

"You wont waste away."

"You can just watch him, can't you? Can't he just stay here?"

"That's not up to me, Haruka, you know that," Kimiko said disapprovingly, picking up her daughters bowl. She had learned that fighting Haruka's logic with 'because I said so's only ended up with her daughter getting angry and frustrated, which was much harder to deal with than using plain and easy logic. Besides, it wasn't in Kimiko's personality to simply tell her daughter 'because I said so.' Her own mother had said that, and it was something that she had hated to no end.

"Mikoto-san, Kushina-san, can't Itachi stay and play?" Haruka pleaded, rolling out of the booth and clasping her hands together. Some people from other tables were beginning to glance over, and Kimiko shuffled nervously.

"Come on, Haruka, that's enough," she said, placing a hand on her daughters tiny shoulder.

"But momma, he's already in the academy. He could teach me how to throw kunai!" She said excitedly, flicking out her wrist as though she were throwing knives already.

"I don't even have any kunai," Itachi mumbled, mostly to himself. Something about Haruka just made him want to talk.

"You are not going to be throwing any kunai in here, young lady, now sit down and behave. That was the deal, remember?" Kimiko said sternly, directing her daughter back into the booth.

"Kimiko, I don't think it would be that much of a problem if Itachi stayed for a little while longer," Mikoto finally cut in after sharing a look with Kushina, who urged her with a smile. "If he wants to."

"Oh, Mikoto-san, don't let Haruka inconvenience you..." Kimiko said, smiling shyly. Mikoto waved her hand.

"It's not inconvenience. I have to run some errands, anyway. Itachi would probably just think they were boring, anyway."

"Can he stay momma, _please_?" Haruka gasped. Kimiko hesitated.

"Only if you promise to behave, Haruka."

"I promise!"

Kimiko sighed.

"Alright."

"Yes!" Haruka cheered. "We'll even go play outside, so boss-san doesn't get mad, ok?" Haruka grasped Itachi's hand, pulling him from his seat. He let her drag him out the door, and Mikoto watched with a laugh. "Bye Mikoto-san, Kushina-san! Thank you!" Itachi plopped the last bit of dango into his mouth, looking quite content.

Kimiko sighed, rubbing her cheek.

"What am I going to do with you...?"

"That girl sure is something," Kushina laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen someone push Itachi around like that before."

"Mhm, reminds me of someone _I _know," Mikoto teased. Kushina rolled her eyes good naturedly.

And that was how Itachi Uchiha and Haruka Takenaka met.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AU: Itachi Uchiha... giggling. WHATTHEFUCK.**_

_**I'm really pleased with this chapter, to be honest. Go ahead, wail about how he's not in character, I don't care. You've probably seen three seconds of his childhood! It may have been short, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a child **_**ever._ I think I've made it pretty clear that Haruka doesn't come from a prestigious ninja family, or an abusive ninja family, or an exactly soft, boring civilian life. Her mother is waitress, for crying out loud. __  
><em>**

**_Anyway, tell me what you think!_**


	3. 02-Distance

**The Red Wind**|CHAPTER TWO|_Distance_

"I don't get it, Itachi," Haruka grumbled, swiping a strand of black hair out of her face. Itachi looked at her intently.

"That's because you're not watching me when I do it," he concluded.

"I _am _watching you," Haruka grumbled. "Maybe you're not showing me right."

"I assure you, this is the right way to do it."

"How do you know?"

"I learned it in class."

"Maybe you learned it wrong."

"I don't think so."

"Maybe you weren't paying attention."

"I was paying attention, Haruka."

"Maybe the teacher didn't know what he was talking about."

"It's worked every time for me so far."

"Yeah, well, it's not working for me," Haruka huffed, crossing her tiny arms over her chest grumpily.

"Then maybe you should find someone else to teach you," Itachi sighed, running a hand through his hair. It had gotten much longer. He turned, beginning to walk away.

"No! Wait, Itachi, ok! Ok. I'll watch closer this time," Haruka yelped, running up to him. Itachi figured that would work better than reasoning. He found that sometimes Haruka had a tendency to be absurd.

"I'm only going to show you once more, ok?" Itachi asked, and Haruka nodded eagerly. She watched carefully as he took another kunai in his hand, holding it carefully with light fingers. She memorized where he placed each finger, noticing how slender his hand seemed in comparison to hers, and then with a flick of his wrist he sent the kunai sailing across the clearing, embedding deeply into the bark of a tree. Haruka frowned as he handed her a kunai. "Now you try."

Carefully she placed her fingers along the kunai in the way she remembered Itachi doing it.

"Remember to hold it lightly. Don't grip it so tightly," Itachi directed. "The kunai will do the cutting for you." Haruka nodded, but it was light and distracted. "Focus on your target," Itachi said lightly, watching Haruka as she looked hard at the tree she was aiming at. She had missed by a long way every time so far. Once she had managed to nick a tree beside it, but she wasn't able to throw straight enough that the kunai would dig deep enough into the bark. She could throw well enough. "When you throw, remember that the kunai has it's own balance, as you have yours." Haruka took a deep breath in, and then she took a shot, flicking her wrist as she remembered Itachi doing it.

She paused, surveying her work, before a grin broke out across her face.

"I did it!" She cheered, leaping into Itachi and wrapping her arms around his neck. He stiffened, but didn't push her off. She let go almost immediately, jumping around in a circle. Itachi smiled as he watched her. He was too young to realize why he felt a strange disconnect from her childish joy, and much too young to realize how much more he had see than she had. He would realize some day, but by then it would be too late.

Itachi had been trying to show her some of the things in the academy, but she was easily distracted, and he learned much faster than she did. Not that he didn't have the patience to teach her, he simply didn't have enough time.

Ever since they met, Itachi found that he spent most of his free time with her. In fact, when he wasn't spending his time watching Sasuke, he was spending it with Haruka. She had been over to his house many times, always seeming to come to distract him at the worst times. Mitoko thought it was endearing that she came over to play ninja so often, though Fugaku simply thought it was an unnecessary distraction. He was still his father though, and while he was prideful and thought his son's education was of the utmost importance, he wasn't an unreasonable man.

Haruka had since entered the academy, but she thought that they weren't moving along in the lessons fast enough for her. Ever since she found out how advanced Itachi was she decided that she needed to move as quickly as possible. The problem was, she was on to the next lesson before she had even passed the one before it.

Itachi directed her into practicing throwing kunai some more, but it was clear she was quickly becoming bored with doing the same thing over and over again. She was good at it, even showed a natural talent, but she hadn't yet perfected it. He wondered niavely how she managed to get away with that sort of attitude.

"It's getting late, Haruka," Itachi informed carefully. She looked up at him with disappointed blue eyes.

"You never have time to play," she complained. "It's always work with you." Itachi didn't really understand what that meant.

They went their separate ways into the dusk.

* * *

><p>Hiroshi finished rolling up his sleeping bag, yawning into his hand. The sun hadn't even come up yet. The sky was barely lighter than the night before, and he could still see all of the stars clearly, but he didn't bother to complain. He figured if he did, Akane would just get annoyed, and it wouldn't really get him anywhere.<p>

She tossed a bit of dirt over the fire pit just to be safe, and then shouldered her backpack. The thing about Akane was that she was always ready to keep moving. This was something Hiroshi had learned long ago. She glanced at him for a moment before replacing her mask over her face, and Hiroshi had to look away. He couldn't help but find it eerie. She was an ANBU officer, but she didn't have a traditional mask with her today.

She had been given a black crow mask, and the beak stuck out at a length. She had more than one mask, and this one was not to be subtle. Their mission was meant to send a message. That was the kind of thing Akane was trained to do.

"Are you ready?" Akane asked quietly. Hiroshi nodded, pulling on his own mask. She stared at him, her blue eyes piercing through the darkness of the mask, and he shivered as he looked away. He brushed it off as he leapt into the tree's, Akane following closely behind before over taking him. She was the leader of this mission, after all.

They leapt swiftly through the trees, and Akane remained silent as they moved. Hiroshi wondered about the information that she had given him the night before. She would always be Akane to him; that was how they were introduced. His name wasn't Hiroshi, either, but he had been given the new name upon joining the Black Operations team. He was also instructed to never reveal his real name to anyone, not even his closest allies. It was bordering treason.

Then again, so was their mission.

Hiroshi glanced at Akane almost nervously. He had known her for longer than they had been teammates, but he had never known very much about her. There were rumors, of course, but he was not one to pay much heed to rumors.

He knew, though, that Akane intended to risk everything for the completion of this mission. He wasn't sure if she even intended to return to Konoha with him after it was all said and done.

Hiroshi began to wonder what he would do if she didn't.

* * *

><p>Kimiko stood silently before the small grave stone, a troubled expression on her face, gripping a bouquet of flowers in her hand. She wore a black dress, and Haruka stood beside her, clothed similarly. She had thought she looked lovely in the small black dress and little black shoes, but it seemed wasted, somehow.<p>

She was confused, but even though she didn't understand why she was in a graveyard, she understood that she needed to be quiet this once. She didn't make a sound, simply reading the headstone for what felt like the hundredth time.

_Here lies Nobu Takenaka. He will be missed. _

There were numbers underneath that, but they didn't seem important to her. She glanced up at her mother somewhat impatiently, but Kimiko only gripped her daughters hand a little tighter. Haruka knew when her mother was trying not to cry. She didn't cry very often, and when she did it always seemed to be something she hated doing. Crying wasn't an ok thing to do, Haruka knew that. It was more important to keep the emotions inside so nobody could see them and use them against her.

She wouldn't be able to put that into words, at least not for a long time yet, but that would be what she would learn. Keep it all inside. Don't let her real emotions show. Emotions were a weakness.

Off in the distance she could still see the hundreds of people that had attended the Hokage's funeral. They were all dressed in black, some holding umbrella's tightly in their hands, thought it hadn't begun to rain quite yet. The sky still threatened to let it out, though, and Haruka felt it was more necessary to get inside or underneath something that it was to stare at the gravestone of a guy with the same last name as her and her mother. She had never bet a Nobu in her entire life, at least, as far as she could remember. It had no meaning to her.

She kept quiet all the same.

Haruka glanced over and saw Itachi standing beside his father, who was talking to someone who was dressed like the Hokage. She figured it must be the new Hokage, which was actually the old one. Haruka didn't really understand how that worked yet, either. She thought there was supposed to be a new Hokage after Minato-sama died, and that the old one was done already. It didn't seem as though that was the case.

Beside them stood Miroko. She looked as though she had been crying an awful lot. They had already talked to them, and Kimiko had given Miroko her condolences, but Haruka still didn't understand what they were talking about. She wondered whether or not Kushina would be at the funeral, too, but when she asked Kimiko just gave her this strange look as though she stepped on a sharp rock and told her that they would talk about Kushina another time.

Now they just stood in front of Nobu Takenaka's grave and her mother tried to wipe away her tears before they ran too far down her face and ruined her makeup.

Haruka waved when she caught Itachi's eye, and he stared at her for a moment before nodding back to her minutely, the smallest of false smiles tilting up the corners of his lips. Then his father must have decided it was time to go home because they turned and walked away, Itachi glancing back only once before they disappeared amongst the people.

"Momma, can we go home now?" Haruka asked after several more minutes of silence. Kimiko snapped out of her thought, dazed for a moment, before looking down at her tiny daughter. For a moment it seemed as though she were looking at someone else, before she recognized the familiar traits that made Haruka her little girl, and not anyone else.

"Sure, baby. Let's go home."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AU: I genuinely hope that everything makes sense here. If it doesn't, it will be clarified in a later chapter more than likely, when Haruka is old enough to understand what happened. She's still very young, here.**_

_**Ah, just to insert, this story is most certainly not canon. I wont be following the exact plot, and it's almost AU in the fact that Itachi will probably never contract that life-threatening disease because I think it was a total cop-out on Masashi Kishimoto's part. Honestly, based on what Kishimoto-san wrote, Itachi is the most powerful character in the Naruto universe without the illness, which seems unlikely to me.**_

_Tl;dr Haruka is niave, and I will be taking artistic liberties with this story._


	4. 03-Tag!

**The Red Wind**|CHAPTER THREE|_Tag!_

Haruka pushed open the door, it hitting the wall with a loud _crack_, barreling into the room. She paused only for a moment, looking around at the plain walls and neatly made bed before she found her target, and without hesitation she leapt straight onto Itachi's back, sending them both tumbling down, hitting the hardwood with a _thud. _

"How could you _do _this to me!?" Haruka yelled, hitting his shoulders. Itachi let out a shout of surprise, flailing awkwardly as she pounded on his shoulders with her tiny fists. "I thought we were _friends!_"

"Hey!" He yelped, rolling over and throwing her off of his back, quickly jumping to his feet and stepping back as she tumbled, before following him less gracefully. "Do what? We are?" The way he said it sounded more like a question. He dodged beneath a punch towards his face, though it was clear that it was a weak punch, at that.

"You're a dirty no-good lying jerk-"

"What are you-"

"-meanie big-fat ugly-"

"-talking-"

"-jerky-jerk-jerk prideful little-"

"-about?"

"-Uchiha stupid-face!"

Haruka yelled in indignition as he dodged every one of her poorly-aimed attacks, though it led in her knocking over several of the things on his desk.

"You're so _stupid!_" Haruka shrieked, throwing another punch, only to have Itachi catch it and hold on, grasping her other arm before she could hit him with that one, too. She began to flail, trying to pull her arms out of his grasp.

"Haruka, I have no idea what I did!" Itachi gasped, running out of breath as he tried to hold her still. It was quite a sight to see, her thrashing in the young prodigy's arms, frail and completely harmless, though somewhat of a nuisance.

"Yes you do, stop playing dumb!" Haruka yelped, trying to kick him, but Itachi had been attacked by Haruka on more than one occasion. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered to continue to hang around, though it seemed that she tended to just show up whether he wanted her to, or not.

"No I don't-" Haruka leaned forward violently, trying to throw him off his feet, but Itachi braced himself and wrapped his arms all the way around her in a bear hug, determined to not let her go. That is, until she bit him solidly on the wrist, making him cry out; "_ouch!_" It was more out of surprise than pain.

It seemed to do the trick, however, and he let her go. She stumbled out of his arms, almost sending herself sprawling across the floor, but managed to catch herself just in time and straightened up, turning around to glare at him. Her short black hair was a mess on her head, sticking up in odd directions, and her cheeks were rosy from their fight. Itachi checked his hand worriedly, finding there were teeth marks but no broken skin.

"You _bit _me."

"Yeah, well, you're a butt-head!"

"I'm a _what_?"

"You heard me!" Haruka yelled, clenching her fists at her sides. Itachi blinked, unsure if he did actually hear her right, then deciding that he didn't really want to know.

"What did I do to deserve being bitten?" He asked, sighing, finally giving up as he ran a hand through his long hair. Haruka glared at him, her icy blue eyes narrowing heatedly.

"I can't believe you graduated the academy before me!"

Itachi blinked again as Haruka steamed, her cheeks growing redder as she got more and more angry. He stared at her for a moment, processing the statement.

"Is that what this is about? You're jealous?"

"_I'm not jealous!" _Haruka shrieked. She began to pace and Itachi shook his head, wondering why on Earth he had to be stuck with such a hot-head. "I'm angry that I have to be surrounded by idiots for two more years who have no idea what they're doing, considering they let an idiot like _you _pass before a genius like _me_! Clearly they don't know intelligence when they see it! I mean, _come on_, I'm probably the smartest, most talantedest ninja Konoha has ever seen, and they're just letting me waste away in the academy, re-learning stuff I already know! I learned how to throw a kunai _ages _ago, and seriously, the kage-no-bushin jutsu is the easiest jutsu in the world! This is ridiculous! It's a travesty! It's-it's-_it's completely unfair and immoral_!"

Haruka turned on him, glaring directly at him as if to make a point, breathing heavily as she finished her rant. He stared at her for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are you done?"

"I'll be done when you're done being a butt-wad!" Haruka bellowed. Itachi winced. He was so happy his parents weren't home. How did she even manage to get into the compound, anyway? Weren't there guards or something?

"I don't- what does that even...?" Itachi huffed. "Haruka. I'm sorry for graduating before you did." The black haired girl paused, before relaxing, blowing a piece of hair out of her eyes.

"Yeah, well. Just don't do it again." Itachi opened his mouth, then thought better of it as Haruka meandered across his room, literally throwing herself down on his neatly made bed. "So, whatcha' up to, 'Tachi?"

"I was meditating," he emphasized, but Haruka just looked over at him with a lazy grin, rolling over on his bed and mussing up the sheets.

"Why don't we go do something more exciting?" She suggested almost teasingly. Itachi stared at her.

"I need to watch after Sasuke."

"Then we bring him with," Haruka shrugged. Itachi sighed. He found that he was doing that a lot more now that Haruka was here. He wasn't going to carry an infant all around Konoha.

"We're not going to leave the compound," Itachi said sternly. Haruka scrunched her nose.

"Then what is there to do here?"

Itachi quickly realized that Haruka wasn't going to leave him alone.

"We could meditate," he suggested. Haruka shot him an incredulous look, rolling off of his bed.

"I could also jump off the Hokage mountain," she inserted sarcastically.

"We could play Shogi." Haruka paused, thinking for a moment, then glared at him.

"What, so you can beat me at it again?"

"It's not my fault you have no fore-thinking ability," Itachi teased lightly, but Haruka seemed to only take it as an insult.

"Why don't we go outside and play hide-and-seek?" Haruka suggested, her eyes lighting up. Itachi was about to object, but he realized that he didn't really have any reason to. "If you want, uh, maybe we could, uhm, invite Shisui to play, too. If you want." When she said his name her cheeks turned pink, and Itachi watched as she averted her eyes, her whole demeanor changing. It seemed as though inviting Shisui would make her uncomfortable.

"We don't have to," he frowned, wondering if she was only doing it for his sake. Shisui was his close friend, after all, not Haruka's. They had met breifly on several occasions, and at very first sight it seemed that Haruka was not very fond of him. She didn't seem to enjoy talking to him, or even really looking at him, though Itachi was never quite sure what for. He was only thankful that Shisui didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"No!" Haruka yelped, then her cheeks grew darker, and Itachi wondered why she was getting so angry. "No, I-I want to." He had never heard her stutter before. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea...

But she insisted, and continued to insist, as Haruka was wont to do, that it was ok and she didn't mind if he tagged along, if Itachi wanted him to, as she had said maybe close to twenty times. Eventually she simply stopped talking (which Itachi hadn't been sure was possible until that point) and left the house. He followed after a moment of trying push down the will to simply lock the door and leave her outside. He thought better of it when he realized she would probably just yell at him until a guard kicked her out of the compound for being noisy, or opened the door for her out of sheer amusement.

He found her standing almost unnaturally straight, looking painfully stiff. She stood in front of Shisui, her eyes wide and face the color of a tomato.

"Itachi, Haruka-san," Shisui greeted, a smile on his face. "I was just coming over to find you."

"What a coincidence," Itachi inserted easily, putting his hands into his pockets. "Haruka was wondering if you wanted to play hide-and-seek with us."

"Hide-and-seek?" Shisui questioned, frowning a little. Haruka took a step back, turning her hot face away.

"Never mind, it was a stupid idea," she said quickly, almost too quickly to be properly understood. Itachi watched, confused, as she tried to look calm, but her red face was really giving her away. "Only little kids play that game." She added, as if she weren't still a little kid, herself, being only about six years old. She was a year younger than Itachi and Shisui, but she didn't have too much trouble keeping up. Most of the time.

Haruka crossed her arms defensively, and Itachi looked at her worriedly. Shisui barely seemed to notice.

"I heard you graduated. Congratulations," Shisui grinned, patting Itachi on the back the way he'd seen his father do plenty of times. "We should go out for sake!" Itachi blinked.

"Shisui. We're only seven."

"Yeah, yeah," Shisui waved him off casually. "But we're ninja now. Full-fledged Genin."

"That doesn't mean they'll let us have alcohol," Itachi sighed, running a hand through his long hair. It seemed everyone was going to be a handful, today. Shisui sighed, disappointed and also defeated.

"You're right..." Then he got a mischievous look on his face. "We could disguise ourselves."

"Shisui, I don't think that's a wise idea."

"You're no fun," Shisui rolled his eyes, then turned to Haruka. "What are you doing over here again?"

"I uh... I came to hang out with Itachi!" Haruka spat out, suddenly looking nervous again. Shisui and Itachi stared at her for a moment, before blinking confusedly. They glanced at each other and Shisui shrugged casually.

"We could always play tag," Shisui suggested, nudging Itachi sneakily. "It'll be like 'ninja' tag. It's like training and playing a game all in one," he laughed. Haruka's eyes brightened, though she still fidgeted nervously. Itachi hesitated, noticing Haruka's apprehension, but before he could say anything she jumped it.

"That sounds like fun."

"Cool! Then you're it!" Shisui laughed, tapping her on the nose, then taking off in the other direction. Haruka watched with widened eyes as he seemingly vanished, her face slowly heating up, her body stiffening. Itachi glanced at her, somewhat concerned.

"Haruka? Are you ok?" He asked quickly, stepping closer, trying to get a better look at her face as though that would help is assess her situation. She suddenly tapped him on the shoulder, a sneaky grin splitting across her face, and then turned and quickly took off on the other direction.

"You're it, Itachi!" She yelled over her shoulder. Itachi rolled his eyes, sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wondered when he had begun to surround himself with such overzealous people.

Haruka skidded around the corner of Itachi's house, racing towards the back, grinning excitedly as she planned out the best hiding place. She looked around, searching for the best hiding place, and she spotted one of Itachi's neighbor hanging laundry in teh next yard over. She leapt over the fence, scrambling over the top and landing with a thud on the other side, before she swept behind the wavering curtains of white fabric, gently waving in the breeze.

She giggled, certain that she had picked the best hiding spot, when she saw a flash of black hair out of the corner of her eye. Her heart jumped, and she didn't even turn to look, taking off in the opposite direction. She barreled around the house, into the road, almost running straight into a Uchiha who was walking past. They called out after her, annoyed, as she made her way through an open doorway.

She quickly realized she must have entered some sort of armory, and she paused for a moment to admire the swords hanging on the wall. There was a katana and a tachi, and off to the side there were two wakizashi as well as a few tanto placed on a table. She could see a sickle and chain, as well, but she knew that the Uchiha tended to use swords more often than anything else.

She heard a footstep behind her, and in her panic she kept moving, racing out the back door. She sped past a rack of wooden practice swords, panting as she skidded, turning down the hallway and racing past a couple of young women who giggled as they watched Haruka go. She had earned herself somewhat of a reputation in the Uchiha compound during her time being friends with Itachi. Many people knew of the young prodigy, and by extension, many knew of the young prodigy's 'little girlfriend.'

Haruka took a sharp turn, leaping up the steps two at a time before finding herself in another hallway. She turned into a bedroom, and tumbled over the bed, getting caught in the sheets and tearing them off the bed. She shouted an apology not really aimed at anyone, and slipped out the window onto the roof, giggling breathlessly as her small body slid down the tiles. She hooked her heels in the gutter to stop herself and bent her knees, scooting her butt closer to the edge to look down at the garden below. She couldn't see Itachi or Shisui anywhere, and she was certain that she had lost them.

She glanced behind her at the open window, but there was still no one to be found. She swelled with pride, puffing up her chest and mentally declaring that she had to be the best ninja since she had gotten away without even a scratch.

"You're a lot slower than I thought."

"Ack!"

Haruka screamed as she jumped in surprise, tumbling off the roof. Itachi watched half-bored as she landed in his neighbors bushes, disappearing into the shrubbery. He tucked his hands into his pockets and smiled, amused as she rolled out, dazed, spitting out leaves, and collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. She panted over dramatically, placing the back of her hand on her forehead, then let out a choking sound and tossed her arms out to the side, closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, her legs sprawling to the side.

He hopped down beside her, leaning over her and blocking the sun over her eyes. He watched her for a moment, holding in his laughter.

"What are you doing?"

She opened one eye and peered at him condescendingly.

"I'b bed," she spoke around her tongue. Itachi blinked, and she rolled her eyes, half sitting up. "I'm dead, you idiot."

"From what I understand of this game, you're just _it_," he said casually, nudging her with his foot. She batted it away, standing up and dusting off her pants.

"I can't be _it_. No tag-backs!" She declared. Itachi's eyebrow twitched.

"You can't make rules in the middle of the game."

"I'm not! It was just implied."

"I wasn't aware of this rule. It wasn't very well implied."

"It's not my fault you're stupid."

Itachi flicked her forehead and she shouted, hitting his shoulder. He dodged her second hit, teasing her by flicking her again.

"Stop that!"

"Someday someone's going to cut out your tongue for talking to them like that."

"Not if I bite their fingers off!" She threatened, snapping at his fingers as he went to flick her again. They giggled as they exchanged blows.

"Are you guys going to stand around all day?"

Itachi and Haruka looked up at Shisui who was perched on the roof above them. Haruka's face instantly heated up and she opened her mouth to stutter something out, but seemed to choke on her words as Shisui landed softly beside her, bending his knee's to catch the blow and then straightening up.

"You're slow, Haruka," Shisui laughed, and Itachi winced, expecting her to begin shouting hers something. He looked at her when she remained quiet, shuffling her feet nervously, and Shisui laughed, completely oblivious. "Itachi, you shouldn't go so easy on her."

Itachi wondered how it would be fun for her if he had caught her right away like he could have, but didn't say anything about it.

"You're sure quiet," Shisui pointed out, poking Haruka on the cheek. She flinched, looking up at him with wide eyes filled with... was that admiration? Shisui grinned. "And you blush a lot. You're a weird one, Haruka."

"Maybe we should play something else," Itachi suggested, hoping to ease Haruka's tension. He wondered how Shisui could be so oblivious to her. Then again, she always seemed to act this way when Shisui was around, so he must think that it's normal.

"Nah, I've got to get home," Shisui sighed, waving off Itachi's offer. "Maybe we can do something else next time."

"Alright. Bye, Shisui," Itachi said, placing his hands in his pockets, and Shisui turned and jumped back on to the roof, disappearing from view. Haruka let out a breath she was holding, but her cheeks remained red.

"I should go, too."

Itachi blinked at her, surprised that she was leaving him alone for once. She began to walk quickly around the house, her body stiff. Itachi followed at a more casual pace, and when they reached the road she waved robotically.

"Ok. B-bye, 'Tachi."

"Did you just stutter?"

A twitch.

"_Shut up!_"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AU: I really like the dynamic of Itachi and Haruka's relationship. The whole Shisui thing is a little hazy to me, but what do you think of it?**_


	5. 04-The Wrong Uchiha

**The Red Wind**|CHAPTER FOUR|_The Wrong Uchiha_

The rebuilding finally seemed to be done. It had taken a long time after the Kyuubi attack for people to recover as much as it was possible to, and many lives were lost, and nothing looked quite the same. But the rebuilding was finally done.

Haruka was oblivious to all of this.

She sat under the awning of a little Ramen shop, watching the rain drip down on to the ground and sighed, slumping a little further into her seat.

"He told me he wasn't coming, you know," she said out loud. The man behind the counter shrugged, an ironic smile on his face. He wondered why such a small girl was concerning herself with boys, anyway. What happened to cooties?

He simply grunted in response, but she took that as him listening and that was enough for her. Another long, dejected sigh escaped from her lips.

"It's not like I said it very seriously. Maybe he thought I was joking," she thought out loud, her eyes rolling up to look at the ceiling, before she turned and slumped against the counter in one fluid motion, burying her face in her arms. "I could always go find him."

The old man grunted again, continuing his work. She stared cross eyed at a thread poking out of her shirt and picked at it restlessly.

"No, he's probably busy training. That's all he ever seems to do nowadays. Him and that stupid Itachi. They both mastered their Sharingan, you know."

The old man blinked, and it clicked in his head who this young girl must be. Everyone knew about Itachi Uchiha, and by extension, everyone knew of Haruka, the loud troublemaking girl that followed him around the village on his days off. Some people worried that she would interfere with his training, and it was vital that they have a strong ninja like Itachi bringing hope to the village in such a raw time. It didn't seem that Haruka cared much about that, or took much heed to the fact that there were some who disapproved of their close relationship, believing her to simply be a distraction.

"Which is totally an unfair advantage. I wish I had the Sharingan. No, you know what?" Haruka pulled the string and it snapped off. She held it up and dropped it, watching it float down to the counter, then blew it away. "I wish I had something even cooler, something better than the Sharingan. Then I could show them what a _real _ninja looks like. And then maybe _he _would take my not-jokes-that-sound-like-jokes seriously."

Haruka thumped her forehead against the table.

"What's the use? I'm going to be an old cat-lady before I find anyone worth the trouble for. All of the boys my age are stupid, and you can't get rid of a stupid like that. Do you know I'm one of _three _people in my class who passed to become a Genin this year? _Three. _And even they aren't exactly the brightest of the bunch. Honestly, I'm not even sure how they passed the final test. Not to mention one of them is just plain creepy. The other never shuts their mouth. Everyone my age is a complete moron."

"Everyone?"

Haruka looked up and glared when she saw Itachi pushing aside the flap and coming through into the small Ramen shop. He had changed a lot in the past year or so, his eyes seeming to grow more sunken in, and he constantly looked tired. She blamed those dumb history books he stayed up late into the night to read. She had no idea what he would want with the history of The Land of the Moon, but he seemed curious, none-the-less.

"Yes, _everyone. _Even your tiny brain couldn't hold a candle to my _massive _intellect," Haruka said snootily, sticking out her chin. She let out an annoyed whine as he flicked her, batting at his hand, but he seemed unbothered. "How's your training?"

"Canceled due to the rain," he said easily. He had begun to speak in much softer tones, as well. Haruka was intuned to his voice and could usually hear what he was saying even when others couldn't, though she was much too gracious to rub it in anyone's face. That, and she never really noticed or thought much of it. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi slid into the seat next to her, and ordered a simple bowl of chicken ramen before turning back to his best friend, gazing at her curiously as she turned away from him. He didn't miss the blush growing in her cheeks, however, and a frown pulled down at the corners of his mouth.

Shisui had mentioned something the other day about Haruka asking him to meet her at Icharaku's Ramen Shop when he got back from his mission, but had determined that he probably wasn't going to go. It was supposed to be a tiring mission, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to having to hang out with 'Weird-Haruka' when he got back. He said that he'd prefer to go home and sleep.

Exhaustion pulled at Itachi, but he forced it into the back of his mind. He had more important things to worry about.

"I was just hungry, and mom's at home sleeping, so I came here," Haruka lied smoothly. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Haruka?"

She turned to look at him and he poked her in the forehead. She looked up at his finger, then gave him an annoyed glare, batting his hand away.

"You're an awful liar."

Actually, she was a very good liar. Itachi hadn't the faintest clue where she had picked up such an awful skill, but she had. He was just smarter than that.

He wasn't oblivious to Haruka's long-term crush. In fact, he was quite in tune to it, and tended to keep rather close tabs on the whole ordeal. Nothing really ever happened with Haruka that he wasn't aware of, but that was more by coincidence than a creepy obsession he harbored. He had known Haruka too long to not know when she was lying to him.

"What do you care?" Haruka rolled her eyes, huffing as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Mr. _I've-got-the-cheaty-Sharingan_."

At this Itachi sent her and incredulous look, but he decided that it was best not to comment. Ever since he had mastered it, Haruka had made it very clear that she was jealous of his abilities. She didn't particularly understand what it meant to master his kekkei genkai, but she understood enough to know that it gave him an advantage over other ninja of his caliber.

"Perhaps if you spent more time training you could beat me in a spar," Itachi said, graciously accepting the ramen given to him by the old man behind the bar. He complimented the way it looked before snapping his chop sticks and digging in.

"I train enough!" Haruka gaped, straightening violently. "You're just a cheater, that's all."

"Using my Sharingan is not cheating," Itachi replied smoothly, eating politely.

"Is, too."

"Quit acting like a child."

Haruka paused, the phrase hitting her harder than she had expected it to. She narrowed her icy blue eyes, scrunching her nose in irritation. She had noticed that Itachi seemed almost to be too busy for her lately. It was something she was begrudgingly becoming used to—she understood better than anyone else the expectations he had to look up to, maybe even better than Itachi himself, but it didn't mean she liked it.

"Just because you have to grow up so fast doesn't mean I have to, too."

Itachi glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, somewhat taken aback by her words. If she noticed she didn't mention it. Instead she stood up and stretched her arms over her head, sighing.

"I better get going. I have _training _to do," Haruka grumbled, sticking her tongue out at Itachi before walking away. She sprinted away in the rain, her feet moving quickly out of sight.

Itachi sat back, his chop-sticks coming to rest on the side of the bowl. It made sense why she hurried off so quickly. He hadn't seen her much lately do to his own training, and he knew he was somewhat irritable. On reflection, he knew he probably shouldn't have said something so harsh. That and she had clearly been waiting for Shisui. Why should she stick around if it was clear her purpose for being there had been nullified?

After all, he was the wrong Uchiha.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AU: Short, but to the point. It's a favorite chapter of mine. **_


	6. 05-By Chance

**The Red Wind**|CHAPTER FIVE|_By Chance_

Haruka wondered if she should feel some sort of remorse.

She had never really known her third teammate, after all. She had been surprised that he even passed the final test, being as sickly as he was. She wondered if perhaps the instructor had known, and her third teammates last wish was to become a ninja or something of the sort, either way she wasn't sure. All she knew was that she had only two teammates left, and they were both crazy.

Her sensei's name was Chokichi. He was an interesting character, surely, and he had the looks to match it. He spoke profusely about his extended time spent in the Land of Snow, talking about how cold it was, but how interesting the culture was and several particularly beautiful young women he had met while he was there. Of course, Chokichi seemed to think all women were beautiful, and women tended to think the same of him.

He had deep purple hair that fell in a messy sort of wave around his ears, and sharp, violet eyes peering out from his young, handsome face. He had tan skin and a thin build, and more often than not he wore stark white clothing. He claimed that it was because he was most comfortable in it because of all the time spent in the Land of Snow, but in Konoha it only made him stick out like a sore thumb. Haruka had a feeling he enjoyed it if the way he strutted around like a peacock told her anything.

He was quite the character, and Haruka wasn't very fond of him.

"Here we are! Now we can start some _real_ training!" Chokichi-sensei cooed, balling his fists and bringing them excitedly to his face, doing an odd little dance. The long white blade on his back bounced slightly, the long violet strip along the edge facing in the Konoha sun.

Scratch that. Haruka hated him.

They stood in the middle of a cosino, the floor speckled with bright, tacky colors and people milling about. Somewhere off to the left someone got some sort of jack-pot and money started to spill out into their hands, much to the chagrin of many of the people around him.

"What kind of training would we get done in a cosino...?"

Haruka glanced over at her last teammate. Her name was Maeko, of the Shiroikaze family, and she was scary. She always had this dull, robotic look in her dark grey eyes, and every time she spoke it was flat and toneless. She was pale, with long, slightly curly ash-grey hair. It was almost like she was washed out or simply colored black and white. Haruka had barely remembered having her in class. Something about her just seemed to unextrordinary and boring. Haruka barely remembered who she was, and surely if she mentioned her to anyone they would simply reply with; 'who?'

"All sorts of training," Chokichi-sensei said, rolling his eyes. He spread his arms widely. "Just look around at all of the people! There's plenty to be learned here. Much skill is required to master these kinds of games," he said, nodding sagely. Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't these games based off of chance?" Maeko said monotonously, watching a woman with a bountiful bosom sway by, holding a tray laden with fluted glasses filled with bright liquid. Chokichi snatched one as she walked by, shooting the waitress a wink. Haruka watched with disgust.

"Absolutely not," Chokichi-sensei said, downing his glass and placing it carelessly into some random strangers hand. They looked at it, confused, but he was quick to usher the two girls in a different direction before the stranger could hand it back. "Not just anyone can win big here, you know," he said, his voice bubbling with excitement.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Haruka asked indignantly. Chokichi's eyes glinted in the bright, flashing lights.

"Take this," he said, handing her a note. She looked down at it, then up at him incredulously. "If you can double—no, make that _triple _this by the end of the day, you pass."

"Wait, what do you mean 'pass?'" Haruka asked sharply, glaring up at him as her fist crumpled the note in her hand. Chokichi stood straight, putting his hands on his hips.

"You didn't think I would just train any old brat off the streets, did you? You need to prove your worth to me, both of you," he said, shooting a look at Maeko. He shivered when she continued to stare at him blankly, a drop of sweat sliding comically down the side of his face. "You're a little creepy, you know that?"

Maeko turned her face away, and he looked as though he had been hit for a moment, before regaining his bearings.

"We passed the test already, we're Genin now!" Haruka yelped, catching the attention of some people standing around a slot machine. They glanced over at the odd group of ninja warily before continuing with their game.

"And you'll stay Genin forever if you don't pass this test, because I'll refuse to train you," Chokichi rolled his eyes as though it were all just a game to him while Haruka seethed. "Anyway, good luck!"

"Hey! Get back here you old sleaze-bag!" She yelped, but it was too late. He had disappeared into the crowd, practically vanishing. Haruka looked down at the thousand yen note warily, before placing her hand over her face. "I have _no idea _how to gamble. I'm _nine_, for the love of-"

She turned around and paused as she found Maeko watching several people cheer at one of the strange machines and rolled her eyes.

"Come on, we don't have time to watch these monkey's act like idiots." Maeko turned to look at her, glancing back once more at the people playing before following Haruka through the crowd of people.

They were certainly out of place, here, among the women dressed in bright, flashy clothes, and the men who ogled them as they moved by. There were a few who were focused on their games, some with determined expressions, and others with fat-cat grins on their faces, surrounded by beautiful women who stroked their arms and their ego's. Haruka ignored all of them, moving with determination through the crowd of people.

"I have no idea how I'm supposed to do this," Haruka spat, shoving past a woman in a skimpy dress who shouted after her, but the dark haired girl wasn't really paying her any attention. She held up the note, staring at it confusedly, before looking towards one of the counters. "Wait here," she commanded to Maeko, then marched over to exchange the note for coins.

Maeko watched the people gambling, her eyes observing one of the men at a roulette game where they spun a large wheel. She grew uninterested quickly, scanning the slot machines once more, a strange glimmer of curiosity flashing through her eyes.

"Alright, here." Maeko turned. Haruka held a couple of coins in her palm, stuffing the rest into her pockets. "This is all a waste of time, anyway. No one ever wins these things." Somewhere to her left people cheered, but the dark haired girl ignored the sound. "Let's go."

Hiroshi noticed that Akane was not particularly fond of casino's. He had asked her about it once, when they had gone on a mission requiring them to stalk someone who was affiliated with one, but she had never explained to him what her deal was, exactly. She had left it at simply being uncomfortable around them.

But she was damn good at gambling, that was for certain.

They stood in a run down bar, exchanging looks with a rather rough looking older man. He sat, hunched on the bar stool, surrounded by friends. He eyed up Akane and Hiroshi watched him do so uncomfortably, but Akane had always had a good poker face. If she was unnerved, she certainly didn't show it. He supposed that was why she was an ANBU Official Officer of Konoha.

It wasn't really the setting that was making him nervous, it was Akane. She had been acting differently, recently. Telling him things that he knew she should never be telling anybody. She was telling him about her childhood, when her name was different, and he knew that it was classified information. He had never told her anything about himself, though he sometimes got the feeling that she knew all about his past, anyway.

"I'm looking for information." Her voice was quiet but steady. It filled the whole room, and everyone had their eyes on her. That was something about Akane; she didn't easily go unnoticed. "I understand that someone here may know something about what I'm looking for."

The men glanced at each other, before glaring at her. Akane had told Hiroshi something long before they had even entered the village. She mentioned something about how she was really just taking a shot in the dark. She didn't know if she was going to find what she was looking for, but she was certainly willing to try.

"Ey, that depends," the older man grumbled, crossing his arms. "What're you looking fer?" He chuckled, and the men around him followed suit.

"Two shinobi wearing black cloaks covered in red clouds. They would be hard to miss."

The room stilled.

Haruka gripped her seat so tightly that her knuckles were turning white, and sweat dripped down the side of her face. Beside her, Maeko was looking in the other direction, not really paying much attention to the game at hand.

"So, kid?" The man said gruffly, grinning at her clearly nervous disposition.

"I stay."

The man grinned. He rolled his neck, a loud crack sounding from his loosened joint, and then slapped down his cards. A full house. Haruka sighed as he raked in her chips, and the last of her money, which hadn't been much to begin with. She slid off her stool and sighed, dropping on to the ground.

"That was the last of it," Haruka sighed, running a hand through her dark hair. She glanced at Maeko, who was still watching the pull-machines with an eerie facination. She wondered if the girl was stupid or something. "The least you could do is look a little remorseful. We're not going to be Genin at this rate-hey!"

Maeko wasn't listening. She walked directly up to one of the machines where a man looked just about ready to give up and tapped him on the shoulder. She said something to him and he grumbled, smacked the machine with the back of his hand and slid grumpily out of the seat, walking away.

"What are you doing?" Haruka growled, moving after her partner. "No one has won anything off of these machines in over an hour." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Besides, we have nothing left to bet." With that, Maeko looked directly at her and produced one silver coin from her pocket, the piece flashing in the bright lights of the casino, and slid it into the machine.

"Exactly." Her voice was soft but sure, and sent shivers down Haruka's spine. It took only one spin. Jackpot.

Coins flooded out of the machine, and Haruka stared, her eyes wide as they fell on to the floor. Behind them the man yelled with an angry sort of disdain, but Haruka wasn't really paying any attention to him.

"How did you-?" Haruka sputtered, then shook her head. "Never mind. Help me pick these up, will you?" They began to gather the coins, Haruka counting in her head as she went. She grinned as they began to pick up the last pieces. "This is six times what we started with. How lucky." Maeko glanced at her, her eyes glinting, and that was the first time she saw even a shade of a smile appear on the young girl's face. It changed everything about her appearance. She was surely a beautiful girl.

"I don't believe in luck."

Those were the first words Maeko had ever spoken to Haruka.

"Haruka! There you are!"

Haruka jumped as Chokichi seemed to suddenly appear behind her, putting a firm hand on her shoulder. She was still holding a couple coins in her hands, and her pockets were heavy with change. She glared at her purple-headed sensei, but he wasn't paying her much attention. She yelled out in annoyance as he began pushing her away from the machine.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, it's been so long, I hope you did well but the days almost over and it surely must be your bed time by now," he cooed in an overly sweet voice. Haruka could hear shouting in the distance, and Chokichi began pushing her faster towards the door.

"What? It's only five o' clock! How old do you think I am?" She hissed, glaring at him and trying to shove him off. She aimed to smack his hands away, but he was as craft as a snake.

"Hey! You! Get back here!"

"Time to go!"

Haruka yelped as he picked her up, grabed Maeko's hand and began moving faster than Haruka was sure she had ever moved in her entire life. The rush was exhilarating. Suddenly, they were standing on a bridge outside, and the yells of angry men and cheering winners was replaced by the gentle sound of the breeze, and a trickling stream.

It was... peaceful.

Chokichi dropped her unceremoniously onto the wood of the bridge with a loud _thump. _Maeko stood beside her, looking down at her with her dull eyes.

"You're heavier than I expected," Chokichi said cheerfully. His eyes glittered as coins spilled out of her pockets, and he placed his hands on his hips, grinning. "What's all this?"

"Don't ever touch me again, you pervert."

Chokichi fell backward comically, and Haruka stood up, brushing herself off. She glared down at her teacher, annoyance very clear on her face.

"Look, we won this fair and square, so we get to keep a thousand yen a piece. You can have the rest."

In a second, Chokichi was standing again.

"How's about I give you each fifty yen, and you can go and buy yourself some candy?"

"1,500," Haruka glared, crossing her arms.

"A thousand it is," Chokichi said abruptly. He reached out to shake hands, but Haruka just gave his hand a disgusted look, as though it might be covered in dirt.

Who knows where that thing has been.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a blond haired boy about her age. She could tell that he was staring at her. She turned and looked at him, daring him to try something. He was a ways away, sitting on a bench down the path, a book in his hands. For a moment she was sure she recognized him from her class. Something in the back of her mind told her that she knew him a bit more than that, that there was something else about him.

"Alright, who wants ramen?"

She turned away from the mysterious boy to glare at Chokichi.

"Only if you're paying for it."

Chokichi sighed, and Haruka swatted at his hand as he ruffled her hair.

"You are one ungrateful brat," he laughed. Haruka opened her mouth to start yelling, but he pushed down on her head, making a strange niose of annoyance come out, instead. "I think we'll get along just fine!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AU: Iiiit's a short one. Also, no Itachi. Sorry. I really enjoy writing the moments between young Itachi and Haruka; particularly because Haruka is usually in charge, which is not something you see in a lot of ItachixOC fics. Well, any Itachix fics, really. But honestly, Itachi's character is really submissive. He always does exactly what is asked of him. He struggles a lot with doing what is right for the people that he cares about, and never really thinks for himself. **_

_**Hey, there will also be a bit more Shisui drama in the next one, methinks. I haven't written it yet, so I don't really know. I just have vague plans. I know about as much as you do, at this point.**_

_**Lololololololol**_


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